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troperville

Useful Notes on that place where a lot of Americans originate from via their ancestors. Nonetheless, American media often give the impression that Americans believe "Europe" to be one homogenous place with minor regional variations in language and an annoying propensity for getting into wars and requiring American help to get out of them.

Note that some of the states mentioned below are usually considered European for cultural rather than geographical reasons, like Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan (near the border between continents, but technically Asian) or Cyprus and Armenia (geographically entirely Asian), while the "Europeanness" of Russia and Turkey has long been in dispute (and in any case, both have the majority of their territory in Asia).

In fact, the idea of Europe as a continent is more of a historical holdover than anything that can be objectively justified. There is no continental divide between Europe and Asia, (hence "Eurasian tectonic plate") and some even regard Europe as an Asian subcontinent with delusions of grandeur. Because of this, the exact definition of "Europe" has fluctuated wildly over time - for example, The Iron Man includes the line "all the countries of Europe can fit easily into Australia", which may confuse many modern readers unless they know that, to Ted Hughes, "Europe" stopped at the Iron Curtain. Areas whose "Europeanness" are open to debate include the British Isles, Scandinavia, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia west of the Urals, the Caucasus, etc. etc...

The name "Europe" is derived from the name of the mythical rape victim Europa. Don't ask.

If you're looking for the Swedish rock band, click here or in the "Music" link up there.

Modern Countries

Note: EU member states marked with an asterisk (*), Eurozone members marked with a Euro sign (�), non-Eurozone Euro users marked with a Euro sign and exclamation point (�!).